Colon Cleansing

From The Hygienic Dictionary



Autointoxication. [1] the accumulations on the bowel wall become a

breeding ground for unhealthy bacterial life forms. The heavy mucus

coating in the colon thickens and becomes a host for putrefaction.

The blood capillaries to the colon begin to pick up the toxins,

poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. All

tissues and organs of the body are now taking n toxic substances.

Here is the beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological

level. _Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management._

[2] All maladies are due to the lack of certain food principles,

such as mineral salts or vitamins, or to the absence of the normal

defenses of the body, such as the natural protective flora. When

this occurs, toxic bacteria invade the lower alimentary canal, and

the poisons thus generated pollute the bloodstream and gradually

deteriorate and destroy every tissue, gland and organ of the body.

_Sir Arbuthnot Lane. _[3] The common cause of gastro-intestinal

indigestion is enervation and overeating When food is not digested,

it becomes a poison. Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause

and Cure, 1921. [4] a clogging up of the large intestine by a

building up (on) the bowel wall to such an extent that feces can

hardly pass through. autointoxication is a direct result of

intestinal constipation. Faulty nutrition is a major underlying

factor in constipation. The frequency or quantity of fecal

elimination is not an indication of the lack of constipation in the

bowel._ Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management._



I am not a true believer in any single healing method or system. I

find much truth in many schools and use a wide variety of

techniques. The word for my inclination is eclectic.



The most effective medicine in my arsenal is water fasting followed

closely in potency by other, less rigorous detoxifying diets. Colon

cleansing ranks next in healing power. In fact it is difficult to

separate colon cleansing from fasting because detoxification

programs should always be accompanied by colon cleansing. Further

down the scale of efficatiousness comes dietary reform to eliminate

allergic reactions and to present the body with foods it is capable

of digesting without creating toxemia. Last, and usually least in

effectiveness in my arsenal, are orthotropic substances (in the form

of little pills and capsules) commonly known as vitamins or food

supplements.



Interestingly, acceptance of these methods by my clients runs in

exact opposition to their effectiveness. People prefer taking

vitamins because they seem like the allopaths' pills, taking pills

demands little or no responsibility for change. The least popular

prescription I can write is a monodiet of water for several weeks or

a month. Yet this is my most powerful medicine.



It is possible to resolve many health complaints without fasting,

simply by cleansing the colon and regaining normal lower bowel

function. Colonics take little personal effort and are much easier

to get people to accept than fasting. So I can fully understand how

perfectly honest and ethical naturopaths have developed obsessions

with colon cleansing. Some healers have loudly and repeatedly (and

wrongly) proclaimed that constipation is the sole cause of disease,

and thus, the only real cure for any illness is colon cleansing.



Even though it is possible to have a lot of successes with the

simple (though unpleasant to administer) technique of colon

cleansing, degenerated lower bowels are the only cause of disease. I

prefer to use bowel cleansing as an adjunct to more complete healing

programs. However, old classics of hygiene and even a few new books

strongly make the case for colonics. Some of these books are

entirely one-sided, single-cause single-cure approaches, and sound

convincing to the layperson. For this reason, I think I should take

a few paragraphs and explain why some otherwise well-intentioned

health professionals have overly-advocated colonics (and other

practices as well).



Most Diseases Cure Themselves



If you ask any honest medical doctor how they cure diseases, they

will tell you that most acute disease conditions and a smaller,

though significant percentage (probably a majority) of chronic

disease conditions are self-limiting and will, given time, get

better all by themselves. So for most complaints, the honest

allopathic doctor sees their job as giving comfort and easing the

severity of the symptoms until a cure happens.



This same scenario, when viewed from a hygienist's perspective, is

that almost all acute and many chronic conditions are simply the

body's attempt to handle a crisis of toxemia. For two reasons the

current crisis will probably go away by itself. The positive reason

is that the toxic overload will be resolved: the person changes

their dietary habits or the stressor that temporarily lowered their

vital force and produced enervation is removed, then digestion

improves and the level of self-generated toxins is reduced. The

negative reason for a complaint to "cure" itself is that the

suffering person's vital force drops below the level that the

symptom can be manifested and the complaint goes away because a new,

more serious disease is developing.



I view this second possibility as highly undesirable because strong,

healthy bodies possessing a high degree of vital force are able to

eliminate toxins rather violently, frequently producing very

uncomfortable symptoms that are not life-threatening. However, as

the vital force drops, the body changes its routes of secondary

elimination and begins using more centrally located vital organs and

systems to dispose of toxemia. This degeneration producing less

unpleasant symptoms, but in the long run, damages essential organs

and moves the person closer to their final disease.



A young vigorous body possessing a large degree of vital force will

almost always route surplus toxins through skin tissues and

skin-like mucus membranes, producing repeated bouts of sinusitis, or

asthma, or colds, or a combination of all these. Each acute

manifestation will "cure" itself by itself eventually. But

eventually the body's vital force can no longer create these

aggressive cleansing phenomena and the toxemia begins to go deeper.

When the allopathic doctor gets a patient complaining of sinusitis,

they know they will eventually get a cure. The "cure" however, might

well be a case of arthritis.



This unfortunate reality tends to make young, idealistic physicians

become rather disillusioned about treating degenerative conditions

because the end result of all their efforts is, in the end, death

anyway. The best they can do is to alleviate suffering and to a

degree, prolong life. The worst they can do is to prolong suffering.



Thus, the physicians main job is to get the patient to be patient,

to wait until the body corrects itself and stops manifesting the

undesired symptom. Thus comes the prime rule of all humane medicine:

first of all, do no harm! If the doctor simply refrains from making

the body worse, it will probably get better by itself. But the

patient, rarely resigned to quiet suffering, comes in demanding fast

relief, demanding a cure. In fact, if the patient were resigned to

quiet suffering they would not consult a doctor. So if the doctor

wants to keep this patient and make a living they must do something.

If that something the doctor must do does little or no harm and

better yet, can also alleviate the symptoms, the doctor is

practicing good medicine and will have a very high cure rate and be

financially successful if they have a good bedside manner. This kind

of doctor may be allopathic and/or "natural," may use herbs or

practice homeopathy.



The story of Dr. Jennings, a very successful and famous or infamous

(depending on your viewpoint) physician, who practiced in

Connecticut in the early 1800s exemplifies this type of approach.



Dr. Jennings had his own unique medicines. Their composition was of

his own devising, and were absolutely secret. He had pills and

colored bitter drops of various sorts that were compounded himself

in his own pharmacy. Dr. Jennings' patients generally recovered and

had few or no complications. This must be viewed in contrast to the

practices of his fellow doctors of that era, whose black bags were

full of mercury and arsenic and strychnine, whose practices included

obligatory bleeding. These techniques and medicines "worked" by

poisoning the body or by reducing its blood supply and thus lowering

its vital force, ending the body's ability to manifest the

undesirable symptom. If the poor patient survived being victimized

by their own physician, they were tough enough to survive both their

disease and the doctor's cure. Typically, the sick had many, lengthy

complications, long illnesses, and many "setbacks" requiring many

visits, earning the physician a great living.



Dr. Jennings operated differently. He would prescribe one or two

secret medicines from his black bag and instruct the patient to stay

in bed, get lots of rest, drink lots of water, eat little and

lightly, and continue taking the medicine until they were well. His

cure rate was phenomenal. Demand they might, but Dr. Jennings would

never reveal what was in his pills and vials. Finally at the end of

his career, to instruct his fellow man, Dr. Jennings confessed. His

pills were made from flour dough, various bitter but harmless herbal

substances, and a little sugar. His red and green and black

tinctures, prescribed five or ten drips at a time mixed in a glass

of water several times daily, were only water and alcohol, some

colorant and something bitter tasting, but harmless. Placebos in

other words.



Upon confessing, Dr. Jennings had to run for his life. I believe he

ended up retiring on the western frontier, in Indiana. Some of his

former patients were extremely angry because they had paid good

money, top dollar for "real" medicines, but were given only flour

and water. The fact that they got better didn't seem to count.



If the physicians curative procedure suppresses the symptom and/or

lowers the vital force with toxic drugs or surgery, (either result

will often as not end the complaint) the allopathic doctor is

practicing bad medicine. This doctor too will have a high cure rate

and a good business (if they have an effective bedside manner)

because their drugs really do make the current symptoms vanish very

rapidly. Additionally, their practice harmonizes with a common but

vicious dramatization of many people which goes: when a body is

malfunctioning, it is a bad body and needs to be punished. So lets

punish it with poisons and if that don't work, lets really punish it

by cutting out the offending part.



However, if the physician can do something that will do no harm but

raises the vital force and/or lowers the level of toxemia, this

doctor will have a genuine cure rate higher than either of the two

techniques. Why does raising the vital force help? Because it

reduces enervation, improves the digestion, lowers the creation of

new toxins and improves the function of the organs of elimination,

also reducing the toxic overload that is causing the complaint.



Techniques that temporarily and quickly raise the vital force

include homeopathy, chiropractic, vitamin therapy, massage,

acupuncture and acupressure and many more spiritually oriented

practices. Healers who use these approaches and have a good bedside

manner can have a very good business, they can have an

especially-profitable practice if they do nothing to lower the level

of toxemia being currently generated. Their patients do experience

prompt relief but must repeatedly take the remedy. This makes for

satisfied customers and a repeat business.



The best approach of all focuses on reducing the self-generated

level of toxemia, cleansing to remove deposits of old toxemia,

rebuilding the organs of elimination and digestion to prevent the

formation of new toxemia, and then, to alleviate the current

symptoms and make it easier for the patient to be patient while

their body heals, the healer raises artificially and temporarily the

vital force with vitamins, massage, acupressure, etc. This wise and

benevolent physician is going to have the highest cure rate among

those wise patients who will accept the prescription, but will not

make as much money because the patients permanently get better and

no longer need a physician. There's not nearly as much repeat

business.



Colonics are one of the best types of medicine. They clean up

deposits of old toxemia (though there are sure to be other deposits

in the body's tissues colonics do not touch). Colon cleansing

reduces the formation of new toxemia from putrefying fecal matter

(but dietary reform is necessary to maximize this benefit). Most

noticeable to the patient, a colonic immediately alleviates current

symptoms by almost instantly reducing the current toxic load. A

well-done enema or colonic is such a powerful technique that a

single one will often make a severe headache vanish, make an

onsetting cold go away, end a bout of sinusitis, end an asthmatic

attack, reduce the pain of acute arthritic inflammation, reduce or

stop an allergic reaction. Enemas are also thrifty: they are

self-administered and can prevent most doctor's visits seeking

relief for acute conditions.



Diseases of the colon itself, including chronic constipation,

colitis, diverteculitis, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, and

mucous colitis, are often cured solely by an intensive series of

several dozen colonics given close together. Contrary to popular

belief, many people think that if they have dysentery or other forms

of loose stools that a colonic is the last thing they need.

Surprisingly, a series of colonics will eliminate many of these

conditions as well. People with chronic diarrhea or loose stools are

usually very badly constipated. This may seem a contradiction in

terms but it will be explained shortly.



A century ago there was much less scientific data about the

functioning of the human body. Then it was easy for a

hygienically-oriented physician to come to believe that colonics

were the single best medicine available. The doctor practicing

nothing but colonics will have a very high rate of cure and a lot of

very satisfied clients. Most importantly, this medicine will have

done no harm.



The Repugnant Bowel



I don't know why, but people of our culture have a deep-seated

reluctance to relate to the colon or it's functions. People don't

want to think about the colon or personally get involved with it by

giving themselves enemas or colonics. They become deeply embarrassed

at having someone else do it for them. People are also shy about

farts, and most Americans have a hard time not smiling or reacting

in some way when someone in their presence breaks wind, although the

polite amongst us pretend that we didn't notice. Comedians usually

succeed in getting a laugh out of an audience when they come up with

a fart or make reference to some other bowel function. People don't

react the same way to urinary functions or discharges, although

these also may have an unpleasant odor and originate from the same

"private" area.



When I first mention to clients that they need a minimum of 12

colonics or many more enemas than 12 during a fasting or cleansing

program they are inevitably shocked. To most it seems that no one in

their right mind would recommend such a treatment, and that I must

certainly be motivated by greed or some kind of a psychological

quirk. Then I routinely show them reproductions of X-rays of the

large intestine showing obvious loss of normal structure and

function resulting from a combination of constipation, the effects

of gravity, poor abdominal muscle tone, emotional stress, and poor

diet. In the average colon more than 50% of the hastrum (muscles

that impel fecal matter through the organ) are dysfunctional due to

loss of tone caused by impaction of fecal matter and/or constriction

of the large intestine secondary to stress (holding muscular tension

in the abdominal area) and straining during bowel movement.



A typical diseased colon



The average person also has a prolapsed (sagging) transverse colon,

and a distorted misplaced ascending and descending colon. I took a

course in colon therapy before purchasing my first colonic machine.

The chiropractor teaching the class required all of his patients

scheduled for colonics to take a barium enema followed by an X-ray

of their large intestine prior to having colonics and then make

subsequent X-rays after each series of 12 colonics. Most of his

patients experienced so much immediate relief they voluntarily took

at least four complete series, or 48 colonics, before their X-rays

began to look normal in terms of structure. It also took about the

same number, 48 colonics, for the patients to notice a significant

improvement in the function of the colon. In reviewing over 10,000

X-rays taken at his clinic prior to starting colonics, the

chiropractor had seen only two normal colon X-rays and these were

from farm boys who grew up eating simple foods from the garden and

doing lots of hard work.



The X-rays showed that it took a minimum of 12 colon treatments to

bring about a minimal but observable change in the structure of the

colon in the desired direction, and for the patient to begin to

notice that bowel function was improving, plus the fact that they

started to feel better.



A Healthy Colon



From my point of view the most amazing part of this whole experience

was that the chiropractor did not recommend any dietary changes

whatsoever. His patients were achieving great success from colonics

alone. I had thought dietary changes would be necessary to avoid

having the same dismal bowel condition return. I still think

colonics are far more effective if people are on a cleansing diet

too. However, I was delighted to see the potential for helping

people through colonics.



For me, the most interesting part of this colonic school was that I

personally was required to have my own barium enema and X-ray. I was

privately certain that mine would look normal, because after all, I

had been on a raw food diet for six years, and done considerable

amount of fasting, all of which was reputed to repair a civilized

colon. Much to my surprise my colon looked just as mangled and

dysfunctional as everyone else's', only somewhat worse because it

had a loop in the descending colon similar to a cursive letter "e"

which doctors call a volvulus. Surgeons like to cut volvululii out

because they frequently cause bowel obstructions. It seemed quite

unfair. All those other people with lousy looking colons had been

eating the average American diet their whole life, but I had been so

'pure!'



On further reflection I remembered that I had a tendency toward

constipation all through my childhood and young adulthood, and that

during my two pregnancies the pressure of the fetus on an already

constipated bowel had made it worse resulting in the distorted

structure seen in the X-ray. This experience made it very clear that

fasting, cleansing diets, and corrected diet would not reverse

damage already done. Proper diet and fasting would however, prevent

the condition of the colon from getting any worse than it already

was.



I then realized that I had just purchased the very tool I needed to

correct my own colon, and I was eager to get home to get started on

it. I had previously thought that I was just going to use this

machine for my patients, because they had been asking for this kind

of an adjunct to my services for some time. I ended up giving myself

over a hundred colonics at the rate of three a week over many

months. I then out of curiosity had another barium enema and X-ray

to validate my results. Sure enough the picture showed a colon that

looked far more 'normal' with no vulvulus. That little "e" had

disappeared.



What Is Constipation?



Most people think they are not constipated because they have a bowel

movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have

even had clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a

week, and they are quite certain that they are not constipated. The

most surprising thing to novice fasters is that repeated enemas or

colonics during fasting begins to release many pounds of undeniably

real, old, caked fecal matter and/or huge mucus strings. The

first-time faster can hardly believe these were present. These old

fecal deposits do not come out the first time one has enemas or

necessarily the fifth time. And all of them will not be removed by

the tenth enema. But over the course of extended fasting or a long

spell of light raw food eating with repeated daily enemas, amazing

changes do begin to occur. It seems that no one who has eaten a

civilized diet has escaped the formation of caked deposits lining

the colon's walls, interfering with its function. This material does

not respond to laxatives or casually administered enemas.



Anyone who has not actually seen (and smelled) what comes out of an

"average" apparently healthy person during colonics will really

believe it could happen or can accurately imagine it. Often there

are dark black lumpy strings, lumps, or gravel, evil smelling discs

shaped like sculpted hemispheres similar to the pockets lining the

wall of the colon itself. These discs are rock-hard and may come out

looking like long black braids. There may also be long tangled

strings of gray/brown mucous, sheets and flakes of mucous, and worse

yet, an occasional worm (tape worm) or many smaller ones. Once

confronted however, it is not hard to imagine how these fecal rocks

and other obnoxious debris interfere with the proper function of the

colon. They make the colon's wall rigid and interfere with

peristalsis thus leading to further problems with constipation, and

interfere with adsorption of nutrients.



Our modern diet is by its "de-"nature, very constipating. In the

trenches of the First World War, cheese was given the name 'chokem

ass' because the soldiers eating this as a part of their daily

ration developed severe constipation. Eaten by itself or with other

whole foods, moderate amounts of cheese may not produce health

problems in people who are capable of digesting dairy products. But

cheese when combined with white flour becomes especially

constipating. White bread or most white-flour crackers contain a lot

of gluten, a very sticky wheat protein that makes the bread bind

together and raise well. But white flour is lacking the bran, where

most of the fiber is located. And many other processed foods are

missing their fiber.



In an earlier chapter I briefly showed how digestion works by

following food from the mouth to the large intestine. To fully grasp

why becoming constipated is almost a certainty in our civilization a

few more details are required. Food leaving the small intestine is

called chyme, a semi-liquid mixture of fiber, undigested bits,

indigestible bits, and the remains of digestive enzymes. Chyme is

propelled through the large intestine by muscular contractions. The

large intestine operates on what I dub the "chew chew train"

principle, where the most recent meal you ate enters the large

intestine as the caboose (the last car of a train) and helps to push

out the train engine (the car at the front that toots), which in a

healthy colon should represent the meal eaten perhaps twelve hours

earlier. The muscles in the colon only contract when they are

stretched, so it is the volume of the fecal matter stretching the

large intestine that triggers the muscles to push the waste material

along toward the rectum and anus.



Eating food lacking fiber greatly reduces the volume of the chyme

and slows peristalsis. But moving through fast or slow, the colon

still keeps on doing another of its jobs, which is to transfer the

water in the chime back into the bloodstream, reducing dehydration.

So the longer chime remains in the colon, the dryer and harder and

stickier it gets. That's why once arrived at the "end of the tracks"

fecal matter should be evacuated in a timely manner before it gets

to dry and too hard to be moved easily. Some constipated people do

have a bowel movement every day but are evacuating the meal eaten

many days or even a week previously.



Most hygienists believe that when the colon becomes lined with

hardened fecal matter it is permanently and by the very definition

of the word itself, constipated. This type of constipation is not

perceived as an uncomfortable or overly full feeling or a desire to

have a bowel movement that won't pass. But it has insidious effects.

Usually constipation delays transit time, increasing the adsorption

of toxins generated from misdigestion of food; by coating and

locking up significant portions of colon it also reduces the

adsorption of certain minerals and electrolytes.



Sometimes, extremely constipated people have almost constant runny

bowels because the colon has become so thickly and impenetrably

lined with old fecal matter that it no longer removes much moisture.

This condition is often misinterpreted as diarrhea. The large

intestine's most important task is to transfer water-soluble

minerals from digested food to the blood. When a significant part of

the colon's surface becomes coated with impermeable dried rigid

fecal matter or mucus it can no longer assimilate effectively and

the body begins to experience partial mineral starvation in the

presence of plenty. It is my observation from dozens of cases that

when the colon has been effectively cleansed the person has a

tendency to gain weight while eating amounts of food that before

only maintained body weight, while people who could not gain weight

or who were wasting away despite eating heavily begin to gain. And

problems like soft fingernails, bone loss around teeth or porous

bones tend to improve.



The Development Of My Own Constipation



The history of my own constipation, though it especially relates to

a very rustic childhood, is typical of many people. I was also

raised on a very constipating diet which consisted largely of

processed cheese and crackers. Mine was accelerated by shyness,

amplified by lack of comfortable facilities.



I spent my early years on the Canadian prairies, where everybody had

an outhouse. The fancy modern versions are frequently seen on

construction sites. These are chemical toilets, quiet different than

the ones I was raised with because somebody or something

mysteriously comes along, empties them and installs toilet paper.

The ones I'm familiar with quickly developed a bad-smelling steaming

mound in the center--or it was winter when the outhouse was so cold

that everything froze almost before it hit the ground in the hole

below. (And my rear end seemed to almost freeze to the seat!) The

toilet paper was usually an out of season issue of Eatons mail order

catalogue with crisp glossy paper. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of

the north country, but at night there are always monsters lurking

along the path to the outhouse, and darkness comes early and stays

late.



When nature called and it was daylight, and there was no blizzard

outside, the outhouse received a visit from me. If on the other

hand, when it was dark (we had no electricity), and there was a cold

wind creating huge banks of snow, I would 'just skip it,' because

the alternative--an indoor chamber pot, white enamel with a lid--was

worse. This potty had to be used more or less publicly because the

bedrooms were shared and there was no indoor bathroom. I was always

very modest about my private parts and private functions, and

potty's were only used in emergencies, and usually with considerable

embarrassment. No one ever explained to me that it was not good for

me to retain fecal matter, and I never thought about it unless my

movements became so hard that it was painful to eliminate.



Later in life, I continued this pattern of putting off bowel

movements, even though outhouses and potties were a thing of the

past. As a young adult I could always think of something more

interesting to do than sitting on a pot, besides it was messy and

sometimes accompanied by embarrassing sound effects which were

definitely not romantic if I was in the company of a young man.

During two pregnancies the tendency to constipation was aggravated

by the weight of the fetus resting on an already sluggish bowel, and

the discomfort of straining to pass my first hard bowel movement

after childbirth with a torn perineum I won't forget.



Rapid Relief From Colon Cleansing



During fasting the liver is hard at work processing toxins released

from fat and other body deposits. The liver still dumps its wastes

into the intestines through the bile duct. While eating normally,

bile, which contains highly toxic substances, is passed through the

intestines and is eliminated before too much is reabsorbed. (It is

the bile that usually makes the fecal matter so dark in color.)

However, reduction of food bulk reduces or completely eliminates

peristalsis, thus allowing intestinal contents to sit for extended

periods. And the toxins in the bile are readsorbed, forming a

continuous loop, further burdening the liver.



The mucus membranes lining the colon constantly secrete lubricants

to ease fecal matter through smoothly. This secretion does not stop

during fasting; in fact, it may increase because intestinal mucus

often becomes a secondary route of elimination. Allowed to remain in

the bowel, toxic mucus is an irritant while the toxins in it may be

reabsorbed, forming yet another closed loop and further burdening

the liver.



Daily enemas or colonics administered during fasting or while on

cleansing diets effectively remove old fecal material stored in the

colon and immediately ease the livers load, immediately relieve

discomfort by allowing the liver's efforts to further detoxify the

blood, and speed healing. Fasters cleansing on juice or raw food

should administer two or three enemas in short succession every day

for the first three days to get a good start on the cleansing

process, and then every other day or at very minimum, every few

days. Enemas or colonics should also be taken whenever symptoms

become uncomfortable, regardless of whether you have already cleaned

the colon that day or not. Once the faster has experienced the

relief from symptoms that usually comes from an enema they become

more than willing to repeat this mildly unpleasant experience.



Occasionally enemas, by filling the colon and making it press on the

liver, induce discharges of highly toxic bile that may cause

temporary nausea. Despite the induced nausea it is still far better

to continue with colonics because of the great relief experienced

after the treatment. If nausea exists or persists during colon

cleansing, consider trying slight modifications such as less or no

massage of the colon in the area of the gall bladder (abdominal area

close to the bottom of the right rib cage), and putting slightly

less water in the colon when filling it up. It also helps to make

sure that the stomach is empty of any fluid for one hour prior to

the colonic. Resume drinking after the colonic sessions is

completed. If you are one of these rare people who 'toss their

bile', just keep a plastic bucket handy and some water to rinse out

the mouth after, and carry on as usual.



Enemas Versus Colonics



People frequently wonder what is the difference between a colonic

and an enema.



First of all enemas are a lot cheaper because you give them to

yourself; an enema bag usually costs about ten dollars, is available

at any large drug store, and is indefinitely reusable. Colonics cost

anywhere from 30 to 75 dollars a session.



Chiropractors and naturopaths who offer this service hire a colonic

technician that may or may not be a skilled operator. It is a good

idea to find a person who has a very agreeable and professional

manner, who can make you feel at ease since relaxation is very

important. It is also beneficial to have a colonic therapist who

massages the abdomen and foot reflexes appropriately during the

session.



Enemas and colonics can accomplish exactly the same beneficial work.

But colonics accomplish more improvement in less time than enemas

for several reasons. During a colonic from 30 to 50 gallons of water

are flushed through the large intestines, usually in a repetitive

series of fill-ups followed by flushing with a continuous flow of

water. This efficiency cannot even be approached with an enema. But

by repeating the enema three times in close succession a

satisfactory cleanse can be achieved. Persisted with long enough,

enemas will clean the colon every bit as well as a colonic machine

can.



Enemas given at home take a lot less time than traveling to receive

a colonics at someone's clinic, and can be done entirely at you own

convenience--a great advantage when fasting because you can save

your energy for internal healing. But colonics are more appropriate

for some. There are fasters who are unable to give themselves an

enema either because their arms are too short and their body is too

long and they lack flexibility, or because of a physical handicap or

they can't confront their colon, so they let someone else do it.

Some don't have the motivation to give themselves a little

discomfort but are comfortable with someone else doing it to them.

Some very sick people are too weak to cleanse their own colon, so

they should find someone to assist them with an at-home enema or

have someone take them to a colonic therapist.



Few people these days have any idea how to properly give themselves

an enema. The practice has been discredited by traditional medical

doctors as slightly dangerous, perhaps addictive and a sign of

psychological weirdness. Yet Northamericans on their civilized, low

fiber, poorly combined diets suffer widely from constipation. One

proof of this is the fact that chemical laxatives, with their own

set of dangers and liabilities, occupy many feet of drug store shelf

space and are widely advertised. Is the medical profession's

disapproval of the enema related to the fact that once the initial

purchase of an enema bag has been made there are no further expenses

for laxatives? Or perhaps it might be that once a person discovers

they can cure a headache, stop a cold dead in its tracks with an

enema, they aren't visiting the M.D.s so often.



The enema has also been wrongly accused of causing a gradual loss of

colon muscle tone, eventually preventing bowel movements without the

stimulation of an enema, leading finally to flaccidity and

enlargement of the lower bowel. This actually can happen; when it

does occur it is the result of frequent administration of small

amounts of water (fleet enemas) for the purpose of stimulating a

normal bowel movement. The result is constant stretching of the

rectum without sufficient fluid to enter the descending colon. A

completely opposite, highly positive effect comes from properly

administered enemas while cleansing.



The difference between helpful and potentially harmful enemas lies

in the amount of water injected and the frequency of use. Using a

cup or two of water to induce a bowel movement may eventually cause

dependency, will not strengthen the colon and may after years of

this practice, result in distention and enlargement of the rectum or

sigmoid colon. However, a completely empty average-sized colon has

the capacity of about a gallon of water. When increasingly larger

enemas are administered until the colon is nearly emptied of fecal

matter and the injection of close to a gallon of water is achieved,

beneficial exercise and an increase in overall muscle tone are the

results.



Correctly given, enemas (and especially colonics) serve as

strengthening exercises for the colon. This long tubular muscle is

repeatedly and completely filled with water, inducing it to

vigorously exercise while evacuating itself multiple times. The

result is a great increase in muscle tone, acceleration of

peristalsis and eventually, after several dozens of repetitions, a

considerable reduction of transit time. Well-done enemas work the

colon somewhat less effectively and do not improve muscle tone quite

as much as colonics.



Injecting an entire gallon of water with an enema bag is very

impractical when a person is eating normally. But on a light

cleansing diet or while fasting the amount of new material passing

into the colon is small or negligible. During the first few days of

fasting if two or three enemas are administered each day in

immediate succession the colon is soon completely emptied of

recently eaten food and it becomes progressively easier to introduce

larger amounts of water. Within a few days of this regimen,

injecting half a gallon or more of water is easy and painless.



Probably for psychological reasons, some peoples' colons allow water

to be injected one time but then "freeze up" and resist successive

enemas. For this reason better results are often obtained by having

one enema, waiting a half hour, another enema, wait a half hour, and

have a final enema.



A colonic machine in the hands of an expert operator can administer

the equivalent of six or seven big enemas in less than one hour, and

do this without undue discomfort or effort from the person receiving

the colonic. However, the AMA has suppressed the use of colonics;

they are illegal to administer in many states. Where colonics are

legal, the chiropractors now consider this practice messy and not

very profitable compared to manipulations. So it is not easy to find

a skilled and willing colonic technician.



Anyone who plans to give themselves therapeutic enemas while fasting

would be well advised to first seek out a colonic therapist and

receive two or three colonics delivered one day apart while eating

lightly and then immediately begin the fast. Three colonics given on

three successive days of a light, raw food diet are sufficient to

empty all recently eaten food even from a very constipated,

distended and bloated colon, while acquainting a person with their

own bowel. Having an empty colon is actually a pleasant and to most

people a thoroughly novel experience. A few well-delivered colonics

can quickly accustom a person to the sensations accompanying the

enema and demonstrate the effect to be achieved by oneself with an

enema bag, something not quickly discoverable any other way.



How To Give Yourself An Enema



Enemas have been medically out of favor for a long time. Most people

have never had one. So here are simple directions to self-administer

an effective enema series.



The enema bag you select is important. It must hold at least two

quarts and be rapidly refillable. The best American-made brand is

made of rubber with about five feet of rubber hose ending in one of

two different white hard plastic insertion tips. The bag is designed

for either enemas or vaginal douches. It hangs from a detachable

plastic "S" hook. When filled to the brim it holds exactly one-half

gallon. The maker of this bag offers another model that costs about

a dollar more and also functions as a hot water bottle. A good

comforter it may make, but the dual purpose construction makes the

bag very awkward to rapidly refill. I recommend the inexpensive

model.



The plastic insertion tips vary somewhat. The straight tubular tip

is intended for enemas; the flared vaginal douche tip can be useful

for enemas too, in that it somewhat restrains unintentional

expulsion of the nozzle while filling the colon. However, its four

small holes do not allow a very rapid rate of flow.



To give yourself an enema, completely fill the bag with tepid water

that does not exceed body temperature. The rectum is surprisingly

sensitive to heat and you will flinch at temperatures only a degree

or two higher than 98 Fahrenheit. Cooler water is no problem; some

find the cold stimulating and invigorating. Fasters having

difficulty staying warm should be wary of cold water enemas. These

can drop core body temperature below the point of comfort.



Make sure the flow clamp on the tube is tightly shut and located a

few inches up the tube from the nozzle. Hang the filled bag from a

clothes or towel hook, shower nozzle, curtain rod, or other

convenient spot about four to five feet above the bathroom floor or

tub bottom. The higher the bag the greater the water pressure and

speed of filling. But too much pressure can also be uncomfortable.

You may have to experiment a bit with this.



Various body positions are possible for filling the colon. None is

correct or necessarily more effective than another. Experiment and

find the one you prefer. Some fill their colon kneeling and bending

forward in the bathtub or shower because there will likely be small

dribbles of water leaking from around the nozzle. Usually these

leaks do not contain fecal matter. Others prefer to use the bathroom

floor. For the bony, a little padding in the form of a folded towel

under knees and elbows may make the process more comfortable. You

may kneel and bend over while placing your elbows or hands on the

floor, reach behind yourself and insert the nozzle. You may also lie

on your back or on your side. Some think the left side is preferable

because the colon attaches to the rectum on the left side of the

body, ascends up the left side of the abdomen to a line almost as

high as the solar plexus, then transverses the body to the right

side where it descends again on the right almost to the groin. The

small intestine attaches to the colon near its lower-right

extremity. In fact these are the correct names given for the parts

of the colon: Ascending, Descending and Transverse Colon along with

the Sigmoid Colon or Rectum at the exit end.



As you become more expert at filling your colon with water you will

begin to become aware of its location by the weight, pressure and

sometimes temperature of the water you're injecting. You will come

to know how much of the colon has been filled by feel. You will also

become aware of peristalsis as the water is evacuated vigorously and

discover that sensations from a colon hard at work, though a bit

uncomfortable, are not necessarily pain.



Insertion of the nozzle is sometimes eased with a little lubricant.

A bit of soap or KY jelly is commonly used. If the nozzle can be

inserted without lubricant it will have less tendency to slip out.

However, do not tear or damage the anus by avoiding necessary

lubrication. After insertion, grip the clamp with one hand and open

it. The flow rate can be controlled with this clamp. Keeping a hand

on the clamp also prevents the nozzle from being expelled.



Water will begin flowing into the colon. Your goal is to empty the

entire bag into the colon before sensations of pressure or urgency

to evacuate the water force you to remove the nozzle and head for

the toilet. Relaxation of mind and body helps achieve this. You are

very unlikely to achieve a half-gallon fill up on the first attempt.

If painful pressure is experienced try closing the clamp for a

moment to allow the water to begin working its way around the

obstacle. Or, next time try hanging the bag lower, reducing its

height above the body and thus lowering the water pressure. Or, try

opening the clamp only partially. Or, try panting hard, so as to

make the abdomen move rapidly in and out, sort of shaking the colon.

This last technique is particularly good to get the water past a

blockage of intestinal gas.



It is especially important for Americans, whose culture does not

teach one to be tolerant of discomfort, to keep in mind that pain is

the body's warning that actual damage is being done to tissues.

Enemas can do no damage and pose no risk except to that rare

individual with weak spots in the colon's wall from cancers. When an

enema is momentarily perceived unpleasantly, the correct name for

the experience is a sensation, not pain. You may have to work at

increasing your tolerance for unpleasant sensations or it will take

you a long time to achieve the goal of totally filling the colon

with water. Be brave! And relax. A wise philosopher once said that

it is a rough Universe in which only the tigers survive--and

sometimes they have a hard time.



Eventually it will be time to remove the nozzle and evacuate the

water. Either a blockage (usually fecal matter, an air bubble, or a

tight 'U' turn in the colon, usually at either the splenetic, or

hepatic flexures located right below the rib cage) will prevent

further inflow (undesirable) or else the bag will completely empty

(good!) or the sensation of bursting will no longer be tolerable. Go

sit on the toilet and wait until all the water has passed. Then

refill the bag and repeat the process. Each time you fill the colon

it will allow more water to enter more easily with less

unpleasantness. Fasters and cleansers should make at least three

attempts at a complete fill-up each time they do an enema session.



Water and juice fasters will find that after the first few enemas,

it will become very easy to inject the entire half-gallon of water.

That is because there is little or no chime entering the colon.

After a few days the entire colon will seem (this is incorrect) to

be empty except when it is filled with water. This is the point to

learn an advanced self-administered enema technique. An average

colon empty of new food will usually hold about one gallon of water.

That is average. A small colon might only hold 3/4 gallon, a large

one might accept a gallon and a half, or even more. You'll need to

learn to simultaneously refill the bag while injecting water, so as

to achieve a complete irrigation of the whole colon. There are

several possible methods. You might try placing a pitcher or

half-gallon mason jar of tepid water next to the bag and after the

bag has emptied the first time, stand up while holding the tube in

the anus, refill the bag and then lie down again and continue

filling. You might have an assistant do this for you. You might try

hanging the bag from the shower head and direct a slow, continuous

dribble of lukewarm water from the shower into the bag while you

kneel or lie relaxed in the tub. This way the bag will never empty

and you stop filling only when you feel fullness and pressure all

the way back to the beginning of the ascending colon. Of course,

hanging from a slowly running shower head the bag will probably

overflow and you will get splashed and so will the bathroom floor

when your wet body moves rapidly from the tub to the toilet. I've

imagined making an enema bag from a two gallon plastic bucket with a

small plastic hose barb glued into a hole drilled in the bottom or

lower edge. If I were in the business of manufacturing enema bags

I'd make them hold at least one gallon.



A word of caution to those folks who have a pattern of overdoing it,

or tend to think that more is better. This is not true when it comes

to colon cleansing. Do not make more than three attempts to fill and

clean the colon with an enema bag. Usually the colon begins to

protest and won't accept any more fill-ups. When having colonics on

a colonic machine it is a good idea to continue until the water

comes back reasonably clear for that session. It is not a good idea

for a faster to have colonics that last more than three-quarters of

an hour to an hour maximum, or it will be too tiring. Even

non-fasters find colonics tiring. After all, the colon is basically

a big muscle that has become very lazy on a low-fiber diet.



I've personally administered over five thousand colonics, taught

several dozen fasters to self-administer their own and stood by

while they gave themselves one until they were quite expert. In all

that experience I've only seen one person have a seriously bad

result. This was a suicidally depressed water faster that I

(mistakenly) allowed to administer their own colonics with my

machine. This person not only took daily colonics, but allowed water

to flow through their colon for as long as two hours at a time.

Perhaps they were trying to wash out their mind? After several weeks

of this extreme excess, the faster became highly confused and

disoriented due to a severe electrolyte imbalance. They had to be

taken off water fasting immediately and recovered their mental

clarity in a few days. The loss of blood electrolytes happened

because during colonics there occurs a sort of low-grade very slow

reverse osmosis.



Curing With Enemas



It is not wise to continue regular colonics or enemas once a

detoxification program has been completed and you have returned to a

maintenance diet. The body should be allowed its regular

functioning.



But because enemas immediately lower the toxic load on the liver, I

do recommend people use them for prevention of an acute illness (you

feel like you are coming down with something), and for the treatment

of acute illnesses such as a cold. I also like to take one if I have

been away traveling for extended periods, eating carelessly. But do

not fall into a pattern of bingeing on bad food, and then trying to

get rid of it through colonics or laxative. This is bulimia, the

eating disorder discussed earlier.



The Sheltonite capital "N" Natural capital "H" Hygienists do not

recommend any colon cleansing, ever! They think that the colon will

spontaneously cleanse itself on a long water fast, but my experience

learned from monitoring hundreds of fasters is that it doesn't

really. Herbert Shelton also considered colon cleansing enervating

and therefore undesirable. Colon cleansing does use the faster's

energy but on the balance, colon cleansing saves more work on the

part of an overburdened liver than it uses up.